Board approves $216,674.62 payment to Empower Tennessee to resolve retirement reconciliation

The Lake County Schools Board of Education authorized staff Sept. 8 to pay Empower Tennessee $216,674.62 to resolve an outstanding reconciliation and bring employee retirement accounts up to date.

Staff reported that discrepancies dating to the hybrid retirement implementation in 2014 grew because the district and Empower Tennessee lacked a common reconciliation process. The district initially estimated an arrearage of $200,000; after continuing reconciliation work the final amount presented to the board was $216,674.62.

A staff member said the reconciliation effort included calculating investment returns on missed contributions; she described weekly meetings with Empower Tennessee and that a credit eventually reduced what could have been a higher liability. Board member Vivian moved the payment authorization; Jimmy Dale seconded and the motion carried on a roll call.

Finance staff said the payment will be processed from the appropriate fund and that reconciliations and process improvements have been implemented to reduce the risk of repeat errors.